Rangers-Sharks in review

Your heroes sure came up big in the Shark Tank last night, or should I say this morning? Perfect? Not nearly. Better than Anaheim? Only about 100 times better. Big, huge skills competition win. That Bettman Bonus Point could come in handy.

Thoughts:

1) The Rangers have now beaten Vancouver, San Jose, the Flyers (although only once), Pittsburgh, Boston and they’ve hammered Washington. So the only one of the top seven teams in the NHL they haven’t beaten is Detroit. They’ve also beaten the defending Stanley Cup champs. Pretty impressive collection of belt notches. Just sayin.

2) You’d have to try to be that bad on faceoffs (19-of-52). Seriously. Do the Rangers’ forwards know that you’re allowed to pull the puck back to, you know, your guys? I still think that particular skill is part method, part concentration. And it should never be that bad.

3) Henrik Lundqvist was sure good, and man is he a weapon in the skills competition. And I liked the way the Rangers protected him, because they were sure trying to tip him over.

4) Although it would be a good idea to try to do something before those guys get in his grill, instead of after. Because that big fourth-line goon Eager was sure ignored by the shutdown pair on the tying goal, which probably went off his body.

5) Michael Sauer. Forget the goal. Go to the 2-on-1 he defended when Ryan McMonster blew a tire. He took away the man without the puck, forcing the shot. And Lundqvist ought to be able to stop the shooter most of the time, as opposed to having no chance if that pass gets across (as it usually does).

6) Erik Christensen. It turned out to be a pretty good move by John Tortorella to get him back into the lineup, and I’m not sure why, but often he seems to get Marian Gaborik going, as he was last night. Christensen committed some sins, for sure, but he got the goal. That said, I’d like to see Sean Avery back in uniform somehow — and I have no idea how — against the Islanders Tuesday.

7) Antti Niemi. Wasn’t that the old lady in the Wizard of Oz?

8) How about a hand for the officials, led by the always inept Bill McCreary? I am not even talking about all the sticks to the face that were missed. I’m talking about the sequence where Matt Gilroy was tripped going around the back of the net, then thanks to the that no-call gift, Gilroy had to scramble back, and was called for that weak slash — a tap, if that. Now I know where those refs from the Rutgers-St. John’s Big East game went.

9) Prust and Boyle were, well, Prust and Boyle again. And the Rangers, once again, thrived in a game that got a bit nasty.

10) I’m watching that Monday Allman Brothers concert they were promo-ing on MSG during the game.

11) The Sharks are loaded, aren’t they? Man, the West is good.

12) Big, big, big skills competiton goal by Wolski there. Bigger than the one by Dubinsky.

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AP photo, above.

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Hope to start tabulating the contest results in the morning, after I over-sleep two hours to compensate for the lost hour with the clock-change. So maybe it’ll be in the afternoon.

294 Comments

Missed a good game. Can anyone explain to me why this game is at 10:30 on a Saturday night? Next Sunday’s game will be at 12:30 in the afternoon? If the weather breaks, who the heck is gonna sit in front af a TV in the middle of the day? How many more potentail viewers didn’t watch the game in NY last night because it was so late? That should have been a 5pm start in San Jose last night.

1. Take ALL the hard plastic out of the upper body pads. You only need hard plastic on the shingaurds and toes of your skates.
2. Get rid of the Instigator rule. Jarko Ruttu, Matt Cooke, etc. would never have even had NHL careers if this rule never came to be.
3. Create a review board. A “jury” if you will. Made up of former players employed by the NHL. Players like Graves, Yzerman, Niuewendyk, Shanny etc. Make them an official “review board”. Like a jury, they would review incidents and hand out suspensions. This two man sideshow of Colin Campbell and Mike Murphy are ridiculously ineffective.

I love Don Cherry, but he and that boozing Cherry wannabe Mike MIlbury CAN NOT BE THE MOUTHPEICES for the NHL. Cherry has SOME credibilty, but MIlbury has ZERO. And he talks like he is such a tough guy. He reminds me of the drunk at the end of the bar who runs his mouth and acts like he ruled the world when he is really just a pathetic loudmouth bore.

Doesn’t happen that often, but I think Brooks’ piece is right on the money.

cw

Playing Devil’s Advocate slightly, but how can an aim to reduce headshots be reconciled with removal of the instigator rule, which amounts to saying players have the green light to punch in the head unwilling participants in a fight?

I wouldn’t defend the current disciplinary regime, but what are Campbell, Murphy et al if they aren’t already former players employed by the NHL? Whoever is in the role will be puppets for the GMs and NHLPA in dictating the length of suspensions handed out anyway.

And don’t get me started on Milbury, but please don’t give him the credence of being a “mouthpiece of the NHL”…

Agree with CW (and Tortorella) that the instigator rule has freed up the thugs to attack the skill players without having to answer immediately for their actions. It’s no coincidence that the ’80s featured more fighting AND more wide open, high-scoring hockey. The threat of fisticuffs keeps the impulse to play dirty in check. Ask Gretzky who always had a fighter riding shotgun during his great Edmonton seasons. Without this protection, he would have been ground down by illegal and legal hits. Abolish the instigator rule.

Great game, chippy from the start… Quite a few ranger fans at the game. Pretty cool to chat for a minute with Dave Maloney as he arrived in a taxi with John Giannone. He liked the weather and said the rangers really needed to bring their A game. As the bus arrived, only Girardi and Cally weren’t aboard as they arrived via taxi too (I said have a good game Danny… Wanted to stay away from pucks heading on net – but refrained), they were led by the front seat seated Torts … almost like captain aheb… We gathered ranger fans applauded our heroes… Inside the tank, while waiting for the players to warm up, mike Sullivan came out and chatted briefly… confirmed that Avery was a scratch and when I said to him that Carolina and buffalo both lost, a huge grin appeared and he said “yes, I know, we were watching them in the dresssing room” looks like the scoreboard watching is well under way. Itcwas refreshing to hear sully say that… more in a bit… chasing my 5 yr old around…why us she up? I didn’t get to bed until 3am CA time and she was up 3 hours later… I can barely see my iPod touch to type…

Like the game review. Especially #5. Ive always liked taking the man without the puck and forcing it to be a one on one with the goalie. It ends up being like a shootout, except there’s only so much the shooter can do with one side of the net.

Great win, no doubt. Dubinsky deserved to be mentioned as one of the best players on the ice even before he scored it in SO. But Hank was the one who got as a point and then won it in SO. He wins the Monster award.

AA was much better at playing against Jumbo Joe than he was against Getzlaf. Dubinsky, again, showed his ability to control the puck and the flow of the game. He might become the elusive prototypical power forward for us if he starts scoring a bit more.

So, who is really our first defensive pair at the moment? Staal is our number one defenseman, for sure. But as a pair, one can argue already. The decision will certainly be interesting during the offseason.

LB’s article is right on the money. I find his comparison to high stick penalty very precise. I think, eventually, NHL will not have a choice, but to ban all the headshots. “Eventually” being an operative word. I just hope it doesn’t come too late.

Carp,
the reality is the Rangers do not need Avery. they have a much better version of that player in Prust. Avery no longer has the pest effect on the opposing teams. they have learned to ignore him. the rest of his game is ordinary at best, with the occasional blind pass finding its mark. that said, I do think you will see him back, and I think he finds away to contribute in a game or 2.

hank was giving cally and dubi a good talking to before their turn in the SO..especially after artie’s narrow miss….ilb is spot on…Dubi was the best forward on the ice…..gabby doesnt like the defensive end so much…always in a hurry to sneaky cherry pick…the rangers were very good on the loose pucks…and clearing the zone…sharks were unusually sloppy in all 3 zones…however, given their game thursday night against vancouver (the best game for excitement i have seen all year), perhaps a let down was in order…

rangers were very physical….the refs were as usual terrible, sticks to the face of staal (on the first pk), and wolski went unnoticed in the 1st….the shark tank has bizarre rules and some wack job fans…..as the puck dropped…i lean forward in my seat…..and this guy yells at me to sit back or he will call security…i figured he was joking…he yells again..and he is serious….i said, I will sit where i want on my seat…he threatens to call security again…i told him to go seat on his thumb and spin…so, security comes over and tells me i have to sit back with my back against the back of the seat…i said, you cannot be serious and laughed…he said i am sorry…please dont laugh…but its the rule….INSANE eh?

ilb – have you ever heard such nonsense?….btw, i mentioned above that you were spot on re: dubi….best ranger forward, by far….very forceful in the attacking zone…dubi is a man-beast on the puck…very strong…like a young john leclair….

Next time tell them you have a bad back, eddie, and have to lean forward and change position frequently. Otherwise it will lock up. And if it locks up, you will sue them for time lost at work, medical bills and pain. Plus punitive damage. See if they can show you that rule in writing. Nonsense is right…What’s next, they will tell you to keep your beer in your left hand only?

I can’t complain about Wolski at all. As a Ranger he’s on pace for 15 G 33 A over an 82 game season despite not getting top minutes and playing a few games on the 4th line. Not to mention he’s a year younger than Callahan and the same age as Dubinsky.

if the Rangers wind up signing Richards (which they cannot do if they dont buyout Drury) then Wolski would most likely be the top candidate to be the top line LW.

carp – your review was excellent…you missed a good game…my pregame seafood stew was delicious…have you ever heard such a sit in your seat rule ANYWHERE?…i got to talk to jim ramsay at the entrance where the players leave their room to enter the ice…very interesting…

ilb – the guy in front and to my left had a huge cranium…that was why i hunched forward to begin with….plus it my favorite nervous sitting position….when i screamed lets go rangers during the national anthem, i also got an earful….1st ammendment is alive and well at the tank too…

The next time the Rangers play in San Jose, I may have to go see them play and make a little vacation out of it since the Rangers always seem to win there. San Jose is a great town and a nice area of the country. I passed through there last year after spending some time in Napa and San Fran. Eddie, your experience with Shark Tank security is unfortunate…

Have any other Boneheads seen games at the Shark Tank?

Oleo – Wolski’s been OK. I think needs another year playing under Torts with better linemates before I consider him part of the future. I think he should be the top LW but, like a lot of other guys on this team, he needs to play with more “jam” and consistency…He has the talent and size to be a 30+ goal guy…I think Kreider may also compete for the top LW spot if he signs this summer…

I really think we can do damage in the playoffs, we have the starting pitching and the bullpen to get it done. We just have to make sure we convert our 3rd downs and eliminate stupid turnovers :P

Wolski is never going to play with “jam” and Tortorella should not be trying to change that. Wolski needs to play like he did last season where he had a TERRIFIC season with 23 G and 42 A. Yes he’s inconsistent, yes he is kinda soft but all that matters is putting up points. I dont care if he ever throws a hit as long he is putting up 60+ points which is something he has done in the past.

This idea that all 4 lines should be “grinding” is crazy and you cant win that way.

In all seriousness, Sauer is blossoming into a very good all-around defenseman. His defensive skills and toughness are evident. What makes him special is his ability to read when to pinch. He always makes smart pinches and has a good, hard low shot….guys like Gilroy and Del Z have struggled with that… I think Sauer will wind up being Staal’s partner…That was plan when NYR drafted the two of them. He will only get better…

first the game….shockingly a big physical player from another team’s 3rd/4th line scores from around the paint against us, we need a crease clearer or two badly. I like wolski, and I know I am in the minority here, but I would keep him next year. Hank played very very well. Not sold on staal and OPG being anything close to a shut down pair in this league. I honestly think feds throws the hardest hits of any forward (including cally), and he should be kept next year as well.

So hypothetically, if booger comes back this season who sits??

Next subject. Concussions…I have been saying all along that the jagr rules are causing more concussions than anything else, no clutching and grabbing means more speed thus more injuries from hits. Our game will NEVER be without injuries, but let’s slow it down a bit and bring back some clutching and grabbing for the players sake…….and get rid of the stupid instigator rule, gretzky wouldn’t have lasted 2 seasons with these stupid rules where headshot artists don’t have to worry about on ice justice.

Being at that game last night made for th best 26th birthday ever…although the end of the third period was the most tense i have ever been at a hockey game. Weird but kinda cool part about being on the west coast for the first time – get home from the game at 11pm, turn on the tv at 930am and theres live hockey on! The only thing that could make this trip better would be to win the ticket contest!

talking before the game with jim ramsay – he thinks the concussions are due mainly to the extra padding in the shoulders and elbows….while protecting the players more, they are making it so the shoulder checks are much more jarring then in days past….he said gabby’s head is fine and that his shoulder was never affected by that goalpost run-in on his breakaway goal in his first game back…way long ago…

As carp pointed out, McCreery was awful as usual last night, but the Rangers never really got on him about it…he had a few conversations with Callahan and a short one with Tortorella, but nothing fiery…and nothing at all said after Staal got highsticked prior to the Sharks goal.

the refs is this league are a stinkin joke. look at the game on right now. Chimera runs the goalie with an elbow to the head, no call. then Chimera goes up to Seabrook and clearly instigates the fight. no call for that either. then that idiot Milbury says, “elbow to the head , no big deal , get over it” right after he said in the first intermission that they had to do more about the safety of the players. typical

Observations – What the Puck – Boy does Torts have a huge boner for Aves. You talk about a long term grudge by the coach – This poor guy always gives his all and he’s in a lose-lose situation with everybody but the fans who realize his true worth. Re: Last night’s game Torts has all four lines working with a balance of defense & offense in the first two periods, then resorts to playing three lines and defensive hockey (if that possible with this team) in the last. The Rangers were skating backwards for nearly the entire 3rd period. For a while it looked like the Sharks were having a pre-game practice on poor Henrik. You don’t win hockey games this way or do you.? Ummmh, playing for the one point. Very interesting Gertrude. This brings me to the shootout “The Rangers Savior” It’s ironical that for most Ranger Fan purists, and that includes Torts and Carp, who dislike the shootout without our 8-2 record in this so called skills competition we would probably be tied with the Devils and Icelanders in the standings. I happen to like the shootout because it adds an interesting dimension to hockey and probably translates better for the new fan who finds hockey far too complicated and fast to watch on the telly. Can we have it both ways. Such hypocrisy

Chicago scoring just made me think of something: Is there any team that seems to score in the last minute of the game as Detroit? The Devils are a close second, but Lidstrom did it against Edmonton the other night and then Datsyuk won it in overtime.

i think there will be a lot of candidates for the mcdonald award: prust, boyle, callahan, dubinsky, even girardi, staal (stahl, stall) and sauer.

lone, does he “give his all” on both sides of the red line? the coach kind of played him every single game before last night, didn’t he? i understand that a lot of people love avery, and why, and that he has some redeeming value as a player … but let’s not be delusional as far as what he really is.

Late game starts on the west coast make the game a travel-lag advantage game for the home team. Interesting how baseball and football start so many games on the west coast in the 5-6 pm time slot, but the NHL likes its east coast teams playing at 1 am eastern time on the west coast. This has to be deliberate.

There are just plain too many G.D. regular season games, in all sports. Teams lose multiple games a year to the schedule maker, more than to the opposition. The Philly 76ers had to play in Milwaukee the next night after beating Boston at home. So you are drained after beating Boston, fly to the mid-west in the middle of the night, and are supposed to have something left in the tank for the Milwaukee game. Of course after beating Boston, Philly lost in Milwaukee by 24 points and never showed up.

You know friends, the NHL used to have 70 regular season games, the NBA 72 regular season games, baseball 154, and football 12, now going on 18, and in another decade, when they wipe out the pre-season all together (and blame it on TV) it will be up to 20. My point is that championships are now won more by relatively physically healthy teams, than by ability. The NFL should be known as the National Survival League because that is all sports is now, athletes injured all over the place, and those not injured run ragged, with the predictable sloppy-going through the motions glut of regular season games. Really getting tired of the whole charade. I hope the union puts that vulgar owner of the Cowboys and his fat pals on the self until about 2015.

Longtime lurker here. Was at the game too, sec 225. Second Rangers-Sharks game at the Tank (2008, 3-2 loss after SJ scored twice on an early 5-on-3.) eddie, fairly sure I heard you during the anthem, maybe a few sections to my left? Sharks fans were a real good crowd, loud, into it, though they complain too much about obvious offsides and stuff, and they get way too excited with offensive zone puck possession rather than quality scoring chances.

King Henrik was a beast. Gaborik had some moments of brilliance. Crowd was really giving Joe Thornton the Roszival business for some reason, granted, he had a weak game.

The last ten minutes of regulation was pretty boring, being interconference, neither team cared about the other’s OT point and didn’t want to risk theirs with a mistake. I don’t know, maybe the NHL doesn’t care, but I think they have to fix this some way. Could also tell NYR weren’t gunning in OT because they were so confident with a SO. Still, great game to watch. Wouldn’t mind seeing 5 shooters per side in all SOs.

Doodie,
both the Flyer game, and the Ducks game were physical games and Avery was a non factor. I agree those are the games he should play in, but he has to show up. last nights game was physical as well, and I did not think they missed him a bit.

its all good, though… bull dog wants me to tell everyone how great of a win it was last night and how important those two points are and how much we need to win the game on Tuesday and how Hank must be our best player and such and such…you know, the usual stuff…he just wants to hear it from me. Hope that makes your day better, bull dog :)

During a Whalers game at Hartford, way back then, Milbury was playing for the Bruins, and Whalers had a smallish forward named Kevin Dineer. He was a scrappy little guy and one game Milbury came on ice throwing his weight around and tangled with Dineen,; they dropped the gloves and Dineen walked in under Milburys arms, and threw a shot to the jaw, and Milbury went down like a pole axed steer. His team mates had to steer him off the ice because he was on queer street for a while, and I don’t recall one way or the other if he ever came back on ice.

Dineen came from a tough hockey family and he was one of the Whalers favorites during their truncated existence. ( wonder why big M never makes mention of this early “adventure” that he had in his playing days.)

Doodie, only if the game gets out of hand will it become a goon game. the Rangers need the points to much, and the Isles still have hope. I have no problem if Avery plays, this is the kind of game he needs to play in. who sits? my guess if Avery plays, Zuccarello sits.

Hank won that game for them, practically by himself. Oh sure, the shooters did good as they could but it was Hank’s game.
Even the Sharks folks were stunned by his performance.

Look people, I’ve been gently warning most of this season, about the Islanders, and sometimes chided for doing so, but you must get something straight. I’ve said this before and i’m saying it now – the Isles play better all around hockey than Rangers.They are far superior in their passing game, they are very fast and And the shots they put on the net are for the most part serious shots, not way out wristers and shots constantly missing the net environment altogether like the Rangers do A :
LOT. Forget about sneering at them as the old Fish Sticks…this is a hockey team. And a bloody good one at that. We shall see if they are good enough to make a dent in some teams armor the rest of this season, for it’s too late I believe for them to enter the playoffs. But they are coming.Watch them next season.

I say we stick with what worked yesterday. Our team worked hard all game long last night, why not just stick with what works? Why change things up just for the sake of changing things up? People are right about Avery, and I love the guy. He provides very little positive to the team.

So Avery had 3 assists against them earlier? Is that enough of a sample size to say that he’s going to perform well against them again? No. IMO, we just beat a great team in this league. Leave the lineup alone and stop trying to fix this, fix that. JMO.

fran, I disagree with you about the Islanders. They have a few good young forwards (the 6 I named earlier) but have no depth and absolutely no defense to speak of. They have a ton of heart, and if you don’t show up to play, they will take the game from you. But any decent team that puts up a 60 minute effort against them should be able to come out of there with a W.

racoon: funny for you, so-so for me.
it wasn’t as bad as the other time a racoon got in the unused basement fireplace and knocked a bunch of things around and we had to clean up the place.
this time
we lucked out. the fireplace doors tied shut. it took a nap and left.

i hope (and guess) that Torts is being cautious with
Sauer and McD and he thinks they work well together
as the reasons why he hasn’t moved one of ’em
into Girardi’s spot on the first dman pairing.

otherwise, i don’t understand WHY Girardi racks up minutes
on the first pair.
if anyone noticed my posts after the ducks debacle
and just before the sharks game i wanted Girardi
to sit and Eminger replace him in the hope that he
gets the message and maybe learns something from the press box.

as for him being good the first half, yeah, he showed more “jam”
than previous year but nothing that spectacularly special
and that would even itself out if he was better in the offensive zone
with his shots or pp quarterback or…

bulldog, not sure if you were ripping me or complimenting me. but i’d be interested to know which.

But the gibberish is part of what makes this the best Rangers blog around. or we can drone on about line combos.

lone, so what do you think 16 is? First-line winger? Fourth-line winger? what kind of minutes do you think he really deserves with his lapses? Because if he’s not a first-line winger, they sure have plenty of second- and third-line wingers who are better in their own end than he is.

carp – last night gabby was heading out of the defensive zone at the drop of a hat….is that typical of his play????…TV cameras dont catch that as they follow the puck…but seeing the rangers live last night….he looked like a dude named zherdev…

Hey Fran, since you seem to take note of the more technical aspects of the game, what do you think of the Rangers system in terms of puck possession? More than most teams they seem to voluntarily turn the puck over by throwing it into the neutral zone from their defensive end or dumping it into the opponents D zone when they change lines. Seems to me they could hold on to the puck more than they do. Your thoughts?

Carp,
neither. you frustrate me. I have read you a long time, and I do not remember you being so wishy washy on topics. you hardly ever take a position on anything. sometimes I think you do not say what you believe so you do not offend the favorites. I know the Carp who was writing in the 90’s would have hated Avery, and would write as such. also your favorite coach would have despised him.
I guess what I am saying is I would like to read the real Carp on here occasionally because most people, if not all, respect your opinion, and it is not a bad thing to have a different opinion than your closest followers.

yeah, but watch the Hawks games. they have cost themselves numerous games this season by being too fancy, too cute, and turning the puck over in the offensive zone near the blue line, and having it end up in their net.

Orr,
you mentioned me feeling Staal is soft before. so I ask you a question. you watched both the Ducks game, and the Sharks game. which Staal did you like better? the one that got destroyed by Perry, and Getzlaf, or the Staal that destroyed the Sharks, and got under the skin of Clowe.

Heave Ho
fran’s not here but i’ve been complaining about
the Rangers penchant for purposely turning over the puck.

i understand the idea of making the Simple Play
when necessary — guys are end of a shift or
tired after chasing opponents in your zone
for much too long
yeah
sometimes it’s necessary
but
when the Rangers are playing a GOOD game
they’re not doing that as much
and that includes shooting the puck into
the offensive

btw,
also see a problem when
Rangers are not having a good game
they spend too much time with
the puck on the boards in offensive zone
rather than passing it around

hoping that no matter what happens this year
that there will be just as much grind/jam
next year but more of an element of skill
as well — whether that’s with a trade/ufa/maturity/Torts system

bull dog, that’s fair, but I disagree that I haven’t taken stances. It’s just, I think, that I’ve been a lot more positive about this team than any team I’ve seen here in a long, long, long time … because I think they are absolutely finally headed in the right direction, and because they work their abdelkaders off almost every night, and because I think this coach has done a terrific job, especially in terms of teaching, patience with the kids, and handling the GM — who probably would have gone a different direction at the trade deadline if not for the coach.

The reason I don’t take a hard stand on Avery is that I don’t have a strong opinion about him. He is what he is. Sometimes he’s a factor, often he’s not. He hasn’t been an idiot in terms of penalties this year, he has been effective occasionally, and he has been awful other times. When he’s good he’s worthy of second-line minutes, but the second-liners on this team are better than he is. When he’s bad, he’s a fourth-liner or worse. If he’s in, or if Christensen is in, it usually doesn’t matter … though I’d rather have Avery against Philly, NJ, the Islanders. And I’d take Avery almost 100 percent of the time over a Boogaard.

I think Carp has made his opinion of Avery pretty clear – 3rd or 4th liner with some skill, sometimes useful, sometimes can cost the team – replaceable / interchangeable with others on the team – that more or less it?

All of the comedy on this blog is one thing that makes it unique – look at the boring and endlessly repetitive comments on the other sites. Where else do you get a Russian coat check, bacon flavored vodka and all the shineboxes you could ever want?

Having a good time talking about hockey and talking gibberish make this place one of a kind, and if you check the site meter and take a look at Carp’s numbers you will see that a whole lot of people enjoy all of it too. Being loyal to Carp and other long time posters does not mean you have to agree with them, just respect them…

korpedo would have been great on the rangers. a 2 way well rounded player, but the rangers rolled the dice for the higher end euro in lisin and he did a zheredev and is in the KHL where hitting is illegal.

watched the ranger game today and thought it was a much better effort obviously then against the ducks. man officials in the NHL really suck, they misses 3 high sticking calls on the sharks all near the puck and 1 leading directly to a goal but they would not miss a hooking tap from 140 feet.

more avery drivel. the guy is a 4th liner and I think should play against the flyer type teams and his minutes should be low unless it is a game where he is showing some real positive results and then play him more.

I had a Mr. Softie who used to come to my, former, office…..he could not make a true black and white cone. No twisty machine. I started boycotting after 4 tries….(P.S. Out of NY-ers, you either know what that is, or you you don’t. It’s like ordering “coffee regular” here…..peeps just know what that means……not trying to be obtuse or anything. mama apologies)

C3, whoever said you were funny anyway? who is spreading these lies!!!!!! (lol)

Carp I never said Aves was a first or second line winger, perhaps a decent 3rd or 4th line winger given enough time. Aves never had a chance since Torts took over for Renney and Torts as a commentator b4 he took over stated that he would have trouble working with Avery. Aves never had a chance since his ‘sloppy seconds” remarks. And he went into rehab and paid the price. Slats, subsequently picks up Avery and he becomes an instigator for our team and helps us against the Capitals 1 1/2 years ago. We’re up 3-1 vs the Capitals. I was at the Garden that night with my wife when we won the 4th game. At the 5th game in DC A–hole Torts benches Avery for disciplinary reasons and then fights with a Capital fan in the stands and gets ejected and we lose three straight games in a series which we should have won with a half decent coach . You and particularly Orr the Charlie Sheen wannabe who I am partly directing this to in regard to my earlier”grudge remark do have very short memories. Simply stated this player has never been treated fairly. Carp in ending, what forwards other than Prust, Boyle Cally, Fedo play well in our end. We all know without Staal and Giradi back there playing their best at all times we would really be screwed.

Waaah, Avery’s being treated unfairly, waaah! Mean old Torts is such a jerk! Hahaha!

He’s been given plenty of chances. He’s been moved to the “top line” frequently. Only problem is, he’s a fuggin liability on the god damn ice! Anyone who doesn’t realize this is fuggin delusional.

As for that Craps series. Yeah, Torts lost his cool, and looked like a hypocrite. A fan thew water on him, apparently, and he let it get to him. Can’t blame him. Avery deserved to be benched in that game, because in a one goal game, in the 3rd period, he took two *retarded* selfish penalties that could have cost us the game.

That series wasn’t meant to be. NYR couldn’t score on a no-name backup, and Hank stopped playing like God. You can’t blame one person. They failed as a team.

Feds back has made Avery less needed. Feds really played well vs sharks, with physical play and good board work.

I could go either way on aves playing 4th line, but the amount of assists are hard to ignore. What we lose in the EC for Avery trade-off is steps ice time. Having step get 4th line center mins seems a crime for his skills.

lone, I knew I shouldn’t get into it with an Avery fan, because this is like a Democrat trying to get a Republican to vote Democrat, or vice versa.

IMO, Avery has had abundant opportunity. And has done very little with it. I don’t have a problem with him playing on the fourth line. I think it’s inconsequential whether he plays, or where he plays, most nights.

Avery has not had a great season and should have about 10 goals with all the scoring chances he gets.

But in the words of Mad Dog “Let’s be honest Mikey..” Tortorella is far from an Avery supporter. The guy had the only goal against Philly a couple of weeks ago and had the least amount of ice time in a loss. That tells you what Torts thinks of him. If they can get anything for him in the offseason he will be traded.